I am a Christian, writing, and running mama. I write and I run to keep my sanity and to be a better wife and mama to my family. Join me in my discombobulated journey as I try make sense of the chaos and find the balance of being a stay at home mom (SAHM) with 4 kids!

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Monday, November 5, 2012

Her Hol(e)y Heart

We were called in last tuesday to take Buggy for her regular cardiology appointment. Buggy was born with three holes in her heart, but apparently every newborn has two holes that close up immediately after birth. So Buggy was born with one extra hole. She is diagnosed with ventricular septal defect. Buggy is expected to go in about every 1 1/2 to 2 years to have her heart monitored.

When we were called for the appointment we were in the midst of Hurricane Sandy, but fortunately our area was not as hard hit as others. We kept our power and stayed cozy indoors. But many others had canceled their cardiology appointment and as a result we were fit in fairly quickly and easily.

Buggy was fantastic during her appointment. She was in good spirits and occupied herself fairly well during her appointment. The longest part of her appointment was during her echocardiogram. At one point the office lost power and it took a while to reload the program and continue with her echocardiogram. We were there about 3 hours. At one point I broke out the ipod so that she could watch a video during her appointment. The technician was happy that she could continue taking pictures of Buggy's heart while Buggy chilled out. Unfortunately, the pediatric cardiologist was having difficulty making it to the office so they had to schedule us to come in again so that the doctor could examine Buggy and go over the results with us.

We were scheduled two days later to meet the doctor. Another 3 hour appointment. Unfortunately, one of the those hours was just Buggy and I hanging out in the examining room. There was a miscommunication. The doctor was waiting for us to do the echocardiogram, not knowing we had already done it earlier in the week, and we were waiting for him to see us. After about 45 minutes a nurse checked in on us and checked in with the doctor. He came in shortly after and apologized about the miscommunication. He also said, "Hello, I'm Jason. How are you?" as I was about to reply, I realized he was speaking to Buggy and that immediately put us at ease. Her response: "Jason?" and she giggled. He spent his time speaking to Buggy and being very kid friendly. A good thing as he is a pediatric cardiologist!!!!

He took some more images of Buggy's heart, listened to her heart, and checked out her ears, lungs, nails beds, lips, and toes. He wanted to check to see if her hole was closing. It looks like Buggy's hole is smaller than it was two years ago. It was once measured at 3.75mm and is now 2mm. It doesn't cause her any trouble and she can continue playing sports and training for the Olympics ;)

I have to admit that I was terrified to hear what the doctor had to say. You just never know. But he sounded very positive. He said that she has a heart abnormality, but of all the abnormalities this is the most common. He also said, "Medically speaking, your daughter is quite boring. Which is a good thing and what you want to hear." Yes, I agree that this is good news.

My daughter's heart continues to amaze me. I watch her with her brothers and she has so much love that shines through. She loves her family, she loves God, and she shows Christ's love by giving to others. She prays for her cousins, aunts and uncles, her grandparents, and her friends. She has a hol(e)y heart and I love her.

Praise God for the good news. In two years we will have another check up on her heart, but after the doctor's lengthy explanation on Buggy's heart, I feel much, much better. He also encouraged me to call any time with questions. I am also really pleased that our provider has now included pediatric cardiologists in house. Last time I had to go out of of network. It's nice that everything is in house and all of the records are in the same place. I liked the last pediatric cardiologist, too. When a doctor speaks to his young patient and not over her and then includes mom in all the important stuff, I think it makes a difference. Especially since the young patient will grow up and need to know about her condition when she is older.

I feel very blessed to have my Buggy and to have her so healthy. Praise God for her beautiful heart.

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The Discombobulated Mommy

Welcome! This is an at times a tongue-in-cheek perspective on a Christian mom's life. I'm a SAHM of three young children: elementary school, preschool and a two year old. I'm trying to find the balance between wife and mother, and at the same time figure out where I stand in the midst of all the chaos while keeping it real! My life is not always easy, and I share my celebrations and challenges so that you know that you are not alone on this journey called motherhood. I love my husband and I love my kids. I stay at home because I want to and I wouldn't have it any other way. But it's not always easy. How do I do it? I write and I run to keep my sanity, not necessarily in that order!